Learn To Adapt To Change

use change as a tool

Change is not only initiated by fate; you can use it to better yourself, too. Once you've reevaluated your relationship with change, you can lay out a battle plan for your life with changes as your main artillery. Start by cleaning that spot on the floor that you have walked by and avoided so many times. It will feel like a whole new floor after you're done.

Identify that which needs to be changed in your life by trying to foresee outcomes and considering the future. Is your new car going to be devastatingly expensive to fix if you damage it? Then maybe you should up your insurance, buy snow tires and drive more carefully. In other words, fix the problem , not the effect of the symptom.

Here are some examples to get you thinking along these lines:

Health

Prepare yourself for the effects of aging. Unfortunately, after the puberty preparation of sex-ed class in grade school, most of us don't get elders sitting us down and warning us about our impending bodily changes. Stop to consider your age and expect bigger clumps of hair to come out in your comb, bigger aches in your joints after you work out, and bigger digestive problems after your typical grease-bomb meal.

The upshot is that you can also change yourself. Change your diet, lose weight, change your exercise routines, feel fit. Maybe you can even offset aging...

Work

In this day and age, it seems like more and more people are aware of the possibility of getting fired. That said, one should always sit back and take a minute to think about a Plan B if this arises. Think about how you would rebuild your confidence and start over. Then, if you do get fired, you will be so excited to execute this plan that it will almost be fun. Well, almost.

Love

You and your partner need to adapt to each other as you go along. Your feelings for each other will dip and climb, your physical relationship will alter, your status as a couple can change (insert wedding bells here), and the longer you last, the more drastic these changes will become. Are you really ready for the day that she announces she's pregnant? Will you feel the same way about her when she's a housewife? Be prepared to reach new stages.

Family

Familial change can often be the most jarring. If you become a divorced father, how will you deal with your children? If your mother becomes sick, what will you have to do to help her? These are difficult things to think about, but they're worth considering. Keep in mind that they can always be offset by positive surprises ("look — twins!").

spare some change

The bottom line is that you need to learn to embrace change... and expect it. As the recent bestseller Who Moved My Cheese? points out, happiness is ever-changing. So, if you are made happy by one thing now, be prepared to shift at any moment. Never stop looking forward and stay prepared. Never regret anything. When you are able to do so, you will no longer fear change.